


Tomorrow, I want to see you again.

by hayamii94



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: A lot of original characters, And Tsukishima; who doesn't know what he's doing anymore, Black Tornado Kageyama, Captain Yams!, Coming of Age, Drama; kind of, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, No worries; Captain Yams to the rescue!, Oops forgot about a very troubled Ennoshita Ex-Captain, Slow Burn, Still-little Hinata, Third Year AU, Volleyball
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:33:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21714601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hayamii94/pseuds/hayamii94
Summary: Captain Yamaguchi has a lot on his plate.Herding new members, herding old members (Kageyama and Hinata, cough cough), taking them to the Nationals, etc. etc.It gets a little too much sometimes. But he knows that as long as he has his team, he'll be alright."What's good about you as a captain is that you know how to rely on others." Suga-san smiled. "And that will keep your team together."Edit (Dec. 23, 2019): on hiatus for the next month! I apologize for the inconvenience and thank everyone who's been with the boys so far. I promise they'll be back!
Relationships: Ennoshita Chikara/Original Male Character(s), Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 20
Kudos: 36





	1. I want to change something.

**Author's Note:**

> Reposted for formatting.
> 
> Edit (December 22, 2019):  
> This work doesn't have a fixed update schedule or an editor. I'll be spending some time rewriting the first chapters over the holidays. Big thank yous to everyone who encouraged me so far! (Please also let me know if you'd like to help me out with suggestions and/or editing, I'd be glad to do the same for your work!)
> 
> Edit (December 22, 2019): Just found some inconsistencies in the previous chapters and now I'm really embarrassed. I'll be fixing them before I continue updating. I apologize for the blunder!
> 
> Edit (December 22, 2019): Last update of the day! As you can see from my frantic spamming here, after reading a few past and future chapters, I realized that I need to do a big fix in plot and tone of the story, as well as adding certain tags and warnings. As of now this work is under major construction - there probably won't be any updates within the month. I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. And thank you to everyone who supported this work in the past three weeks - really, couldn't do without your encouragements.

The reason why they lost against Aoba Johsai at the Spring Tournament Qualifiers was because, before the match, their backup setter injured himself. Kageyama had to play through four sets as their only server.

It wasn’t Naruse’s fault. No one could’ve predicted the broken arm. Given the situation, Kageyama and Hinata did their best to adjust to the new game strategies, Tanaka-san was reliable as always, everyone did their best.

Still, their timings were off. Their movements didn’t match. Their best was not enough.

“Why?” Yamaguchi asked. Tsukishima offered his shoulder for Yamaguchi to punch on. But it didn’t help. That night, though Yamaguchi was dead-tired and his body hurt all over, he didn’t sleep a wink. All the while on his mind were the million things that he could’ve done better for the team.

And, fact that their second year was over before he had the chance to fix them.

They sent the third-years off at graduation the following week.

That year, cherry blossoms bloomed early. Their short spring break went by in a blink. And Before he knew it, Yamaguchi had become a third-year at Karasuno High School, and the captain of the volleyball team.

\---

“Eh, is this all of them…?”

Yamaguchi weighs the stack of two club application papers in his hands. They were expectedly light.

“Sorry, I tried my best! The first-years all seemed to have clubs they want to go already.” Takeda-sensei said. “You see, the literature club is quite popular this year…”

Seeing his teacher’s flustered look, Yamaguchi felt a sense of helplessness. It’s true that they made it to the nationals once. But they haven’t exactly been advertising their club for the new school year, for a variety of reasons.

“No, thank you for getting the word out. Most first-years haven’t decided on what to join yet, so we still have time.” Yamaguchi thanked his teacher.

“Then, I’ll be heading to the gym.” Yamaguchi smiled and turned to leave.

“I’ll try talking to some other students too!” Takeda-sensei said. “Good luck! Practice hard!”

Takeda-sensei’s high-spirits made Yamaguchi smile as he walked down the hallway.

Crowds of student passed by him as he headed to the gym. Amongst them, first-years held club fliers in their hands, chattering quickly about which clubs to join.

Some of them could be joining us. Yamaguchi thought. He looked down and flipped through the applications.

This year, they’ll expecting to have four third-years, three second-year, plus two new members from the applications. The third-years are the four of them; Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Kagayama, and Hinata. Three middle-blockers and a setter. The second years are the Hayakawa twins, Naoki and Masaki, and Naruse Yuzuru. Naoki is a wing-spiker, Masaki is their new libero, and Naruse-kun is their second setter. Hinata is quite versatile and can play both defense and offence, but ideally, they’d want one or two more members on the offense, and maybe, another setter…

“Hamada Shota, first-year, no volleyball experience… sleepy?” The first application was short and written in a messy scribble. It looked like the person was falling asleep as he wrote it.

That didn’t sound very motivating… Yamaguchi sighed.

He then flipped to the second application. Immediately, he was surprised by the length of the response.

“Miyano Takayuki… second-year…”

The “Reason to Join Club” section contained a long paragraph. The answer box was covered with words. Below them were another layer of erased marks. A lot of thought has been put into this response.

It reminded him of his own application.

He looked up. A group of younger students in baseball uniforms ran past him in the hallways.

“We’re going to be late!” They said.

Back then, Yamaguchi never doubted that he was going to join the volleyball team. Having been on the bench for three years in middle school, he knew he wasn’t the strongest player. Came first-year, an unnamed anxiety brooded inside him. “I want to play in matches.” “I want to go to the nationals.” None of these words matched his feelings exactly. Before he knew it, he’d already filled the lines on the application form with smudged characters.

“I want to change something.”

He read the line on Miyano-kun’s form.

The same words he wrote on his own application back then was him unwilling to be left behind by Tsukishima and the others. But now, as a third-year, they have a different meaning to him. He had change something, be it himself or not, so he can be a good captain to the team.

“Turn the tides.” He thought of the losses in the qualifiers last year, of the sempais who never went to Nationals again, and of the kohais who’d never seen Tokyo.

He set off for the gym.

“I want to change something.”

\---

Not everyone would show up to the practice today.

The new first-years wouldn’t be here until tomorrow. Coach Ukai was busy with some family business. Kageyama would be at the U-19 National Volleyball Camp orientation this afternoon. Yachi-san would stay in Kyoto until the day after for a design exhibition. And Tsukishima will be attending a mandatory career guidance appointment for third-years.

“Kageyama and I set up the court already.” Tsukishima sent him a text earlier. “Meet you at the gates after practice.”

That left him with Hinata, Masaki, Naoki, and … maybe Naruse-kun. He hadn’t seen Naruse-kun since the Spring Tournament matches.

Yamaguchi sat on the steps in front of the gym and stared up into the sunny sky. It seemed as if everyone on the team had something on their minds lately. And he’d be lying if he said he didn’t have a hunch what they’re thinking about.

But the question was, how he could be of help to his team.

“O! It’s the Caps! Captain!” Down the corridors, he saw the twins Masaki and Naoki coming his way. Masaki waved cheerfully while Naoki kept his usually emotionless expression. “Yamaguchi-captain!”

Yamaguchi gave an embarrassed smile. “You can just call me sempai like last year.”

“But Captain is the captain.” Naoki said, as a matter of fact.

The three exchanged some words of greeting. When the topic of what they were up to during the semester break came up, unsurprisingly, all three of them mentioned was volleyball. Yamaguchi laughed. The volleyball idiocy seems to be contagious.

“By the way, Hinata-sempai can’t make the practice today.” Naoki said. “The English teacher made him stay behind to do English practice. He failed a quiz again.”

“Yeah, he was crying about missing practice. It was pretty bad.” Masaki slipped on his runners and skipped into the gym.

Yamaguchi sighed. “Again?”

“So where’s everyone else?” Masaki looked around the gym.

Yamaguchi explained their whereabouts. Due to coincidental circumstances, their old team of eight people (including Yachi) shrank to three today.

Upon hearing this, the twins turned to each other.

“Eh? What’s wrong?” Yamaguchi asked?

“No, nothing.” Naoki said. He got up, walked to the volleyball carts and got himself a ball. The movement of his shoes squeaked against the freshly-waxed wooden floor.

“It just feels kind of, you know, empty.” Masaki said. “I guess the other sempais have legit reasons to skip. But Naruse’s clearly ditching. And Hinata-san will keep missing practice like this if he keeps failing. It’s kind of pissing me off.”

Masaki lied down on the ground with a thump. Naoki didn’t say a word. He bounced the ball behind the serve line, and the sound of ball hitting the floor echoed filled the entire gym.

It’s clear to Yamaguchi now that as third-years, what’s expected of them was completely different. Hinata and Kageyama last year was close to failing multiple times last year, but the teachers didn’t make them miss club activities much. Now that they’re third-years, the teachers won’t be so lenient.

Naruse is another problem. It’s not acceptable to miss practice without notice, no matter what. He needs to make that clear to him. And there’s the issue with their lack of new members too - they only have two so far, and both are beginners.

“We’re not going to make Nationals like this.” Masaki complained.

“You said it last year, right, Captain?” Naoki added. “That you want to take us to Tokyo.”

Yamaguchi paused. They remembered…

“Okay.” He decided. “We need a plan.”

The ball stopped bouncing. Naoki asked. “What plan?”

“Well, first, about Naruse-kun.” Yamaguchi continued. “If either of you see him around, try reaching out to him. He’s probably blaming himself for not being about to play during the Spring Tournament, so don’t push him too much. I’ll try to talk to him this week.”

Masaki and Naoki looked at each other, then turned to Yamaguchi. “Got it!”

“And then… about the new members this year. To tell the truth, we only have two applicants so far.”

“Seriously?”

“It’d be great if we can get just two more…”

“Club Days is coming up.” Naoki suggested. “Let’s do something.”

The Club Days Festival is an annual, two-day event happening at the end of the first week of school. Any registered club can set up a booth at designated times of the day to attract new members. It’s called Club Days, but usually it turns into a huge party at the end of Friday to celebrate the end of the first week.

Right! They can hold a booth! Yamaguchi thought. Why hasn’t he thought of this before?

“This is exciting!” Masaki said. “We can get Hitoka-sempai to draw us some posters and stuff.”

“We’ll have to think of ways to appeal ourselves too, and how them how cool volleyball is!” Yamaguchi couldn’t help but smiled. There are so many cool game plays and strategies they can demonstrate at the event.

“Plus, girls from other schools will come too.” Masaki said. “Is this finally a chance for me?”

Yamaguchi made notes to himself to put up posters, practice the demonstration moves, get the rest of the team and the new members up to speed when they come back tomorrow…

“Hold up.” Naoki said. “What about Hinata-sempai’s studies?”

Ah… Yamaguchi held his head in pain. That’s a problem too.

“Well, didn’t Captain and Tsukki-san do exam preps with him and Kageyama-san last year?” Masaki said.

“Hinata-sempai’s English grades still aren’t good enough.”

Yamaguchi scratched his head. “… Sorry.” They were okay, but neither Yamaguchi or Tsukishima were that good at English. He suppose he could bribe Tsukki into doing more study sessions with Hinata…

“Well…” Masaki leaned back.

“I suppose I could ask Taka-chan.”

“Ah.” Naoki said. “His grades ranked top-ten in first year. Top three in English.”

“Hmm? Who’s Taka-chan?” Yamaguchi asked.

“This kid from my class last year.” Masaki said. “Miyano. He’s a good guy. I don’t know if he has time though. But if he does he’ll do pretty much anything you ask.”

“…” Naoki stared at Masaki. “Why does it sound like you’ve been abusing him?”

Miyano… Yamaguchi thought of the application forms this morning. “Miyano Takayuki?”

“Captain, you know him?”

Miyano Takayuki, their new second-year in the club, just so happened to be good at English that he could help Hinata! Yamaguchi couldn’t believe his luck.

In the week before school started, the club was all that was on his mind. The losses in the qualifers, Naruse’s injuries, Noya-san’s incident… Everything scrambled together and loomed over his head like a thick, black cloud. He didn’t how a guy like him could be a good captain… heck, he didn’t even know how he became the captain.

All sorts of doubts cooked inside him back then. But now…

He looked at the clear blue sky outside.

It felt like they have a chance.

“… Captain, why are you smiling like that. It’s kind of weird.”

“We’ll let the team in on the plan tomorrow. I’m sure everything will work out!” Yamaguchi patted the two on the back. “Now, let’s play volleyball. We have some practice to do!”

Confused, the twins looked at each other. Both shrugged.

“Sure.” They nodded. “Anything for you, Captain.”

\---

The days were still short in this early spring. After practice, Yamaguchi waved goodbye to the twins, jogged through the cherry blossom path by the school building and headed to the side gates. The droplets of water after a sink shower dripped from the tips of his hair and slid down his cheeks. The wind in passing felt chilly, but Yamaguchi was excited.

Masaki’s gotten even better at receiving. But Naoki still broke through his defense.

He can’t wait to tell Tsukki.

In a distance, the blonde-haired boy looked up. Yamaguchi waved.

“Sorry, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi stopped by Tsukishima. “Did you wait?”

“Not really.”

The moon was up by a corner of the sky. Unbeknownst to Tsukishima himself, the way his amber eyes glimmered under the moon light gave him a light, cool composure. Yamaguchi gave him a large grin.

“What?” Tsukishima asked.

“Nothing.” Yamaguchi smiled and turned to the road. “I think we’re going to have a good year this year.”

The streetlamps by the hill lit their way back home. Yamaguchi talked endlessly on the way. Starting from the twins’ progress, to their new training and study regime, to their plan to booth at the Club Days Festival. Tsukishima tossed in a few “That’s stupid” and “Don’t sign me up for this” here and there, but that only made Yamaguchi grin more.

Now, with the slightly annoyed Tsukishima, Yamaguchi cannot imagine walking home alone again. It would be so boring.

Yamaguchi is glad that he made Tsukki to put in his all to volleyball, back in first-year. He’s glad that Tsukki stayed with the team. If he didn’t, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima wouldn’t be having this time together. And Yamaguchi again, would fall back into the days without volleyball, back when he didn’t know what to do with his life.

“So,” He bumped Tsukishima’s shoulder. “How was you career guidance thingy?”

“… It was okay.”

“Do you know what you want to do after high school?”

“University.”

Yamaguchi felt a beat of silence between them. He searched his head for something to say. But that was when he realized he hadn’t given it a single thought before. He didn’t know what’s going to become of him after high school.

A sinking feeling lodged itself into Yamaguchi’s stomach.

Tsukishima could get himself into anywhere he wanted.

What about himself?

He turned to Tsukishima. The latter had stopped walking. They were now surrounded by the houses in the residential area. Under the streetlamp, Yamaguchi suddenly couldn’t tell what Tsukki is thinking anymore.

“We’re here.” Tsukishima said. Yamaguchi’s house is straight ahead. Tsukishima’s turning right.

“Ah.” Yamaguchi snapped back. “See you tomorrow then…”

“If I said I’m studying abroad, what would you do?”

Yamaguchi looked up.

He knew Tsukki doesn’t ask hypothetical questions.

“Where?” He asked.

“Munich.” He replied.

“Where?”

“LMU.”

That’s where Tsukki’s grandfather got his degree.

Tsukishima opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something. But the moment passed and all there was is silence.

“I’ll cheer for you.”

Yamaguchi said. A few things crossed his mind.

“If you decide to go for it, I’ll cheer for you.”

Tsukishima was looking at him, but he couldn’t tell what Tsukishima was thinking.

“I’m going this way.” He said. “See you tomorrow.”

“See you.”

As if on auto-pilot, Yamaguchi left the crossing, heading home.

\---

In a dark bedroom, Naruse lied bundled up in his bed. His bandages and cast lied in a corner of the room. On the desk above, neon lights from his cell phone flashed on and off. He couldn’t see the words, but he listened to it beep.

“How was practice today?” 

A message popped up.

“I don’t want you to think that it’s your fault.” Ennoshita’s words flashed onto the screen. “Not for losing. Not for anything.”

Naruse stuffed his face into the pillow. Without answering, he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, first chapter!  
> This idea's been on my list for a while now. And now it's finally out there.  
> Hope you enjoyed it!  
> More to come!


	2. If I was to be honest with my feelings…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost 4,000 words... I'm sorry. I don't know where to split the chapter.  
> As always, hope you enjoy it!

At 5 a.m., it was still pitch-dark outside Yamaguchi’s room. Not a sound could be heard except for the gentle crinkling of his bedsheets. He curled up carefully to stay in the warm spot inside his blankets. But even at this hour, with a heavy head and thick eyelids, he could not fall asleep.

Tsukki’s going away. Yamaguchi thought sadly.

When Tsukishima spoke about his plans for Munich, he was overwhelmed by the thought of not having his friend around after high school. No more walks home together, and the time difference will make it more difficult to chat. The sudden realization caught him off guard.

Why did Tsukki never mention this before? … was what he wanted to ask.

But at the same time, there was a part of this feeling that he couldn’t put a name on. A bitter sense of something that squirmed in his stomach. He’d been chasing after it, but it was always out of reach.

What was it?

Yamaguchi wrapped his arms around his knees, but that only made him colder.

At some point, Yamaguchi’s phone buzzed twice on bedside table.

“Sorry, Yamaguchi!” Yachi’s text popped up. “I’m still at the art show! But I have my last exhibition today, so I promise I’ll make the practice tomorrow!”

It’s Yachi… He stared at the neon screen as he searched for words to say. He wondered how Yachi is doing.

“It’s okay.” He let go of his knees as he typed. “We all look forward to having you back.”

Yachi sent an emoji with an apologizing salaryman. It made him chuckle a little.

“Hey, how was school yesterday?” Yachi’s message popped up. “First day as a third-year!”

“Not a lot happened. I’m… just feeling a little lost.”

“Oh… What’s wrong?”

Yamaguchi shook his head. There was no use in thinking about this, and he shouldn’t make Yachi worry about strange feelings he couldn’t even name. He quickly changed the subject.

“Just something on my mind.” He replied. “By the way, have you heard of Club Days this year?”

A small text bubble indicating Yachi’s typing popped up. Stopped for a second. Then popped up again. He felt sorry for making Yachi worry.

“I have… it’s tomorrow, right?” Yachi replied. “Are we having a booth this year?”

“If everyone is on board today, then we’ll do it.” Yamaguchi typed. “Do you want to?”

“Yes, I do! We have some materials from last year we can use to decorate our table! I can also make posters and fliers!”

“Okay,” Yamaguchi typed. “I’ll leave the posters up to you then.”

“Oh! Have you booked the table yet? I can book one! We’ll need a place with enough room so we can do mini-volleyball lessons like last year.” Yachi sent a grinning emoji. “We’ll need to make sure everyone stays hydrated too, so we’ll need to remind everyone to bring their water bottles!”

As Yachi typed away, a small warmth of excitement grew inside him. Last year’s turn out had been great. Lots of people came to visit; families, students from other schools, and the alumnis from the shopping street. He hoped they’ll get a few more teammates during the event like last year.

“Hey, Yamaguchi,”

“Hmm?”

“About earlier…”

“Hinata told me this once,” Yachi’s message popped up. “When you feel lost, it might be because you’re not being honest with your feelings.”

“About… whatever you’re worrying about, maybe you could try being honest with yourself?”

\---

When Yamaguchi stepped into the gym for their morning practice, he looked to the right and saw Hinata and Kageyama sitting side-by-side, wide-eyed and visibly stiff. For some reason they like they’re suffering from constipation. On the other side of the gym, Yamaguchi saw Naoki and Masaki huddled by the window, poking a sleeping, beige-haired boy with a stick.

He didn’t know what to do.

“Morning.”

Tsukishima strapped on his sports-glasses and went past him.

“Ah… Morning, Tsukki.”

Tsukishima look to the right, shot the idiot pair a white eye, and went to the twins. Yamaguchi figured it should be safe to leave the twins to Tsukishima, so he decided to see what the third-years are up to.

“Good morning…” He approached carefully.

“Yamaguchi!” The two sprung up.

“Yes?!?”

“Sorry for ditching yesterday!” The two did a 135-degree bow. “I got caught by the English teacher, I promise it won’t happen again! / I couldn’t miss the orientation for U-19. / We’re very sorry!”

Yamaguchi sighed. He thought he was going to have a heart attack, but it’s good to know that his third-years were okay. He patted the two on the back. “It’s fine. Hinata, we’ll get you help for your English homework. Kageyama, we’ll sort out your schedule too.”

“Yes, sir!”

Yamaguchi chuckled helplessly at his friends. Though he hadn’t seen them over the break, Hinata was still short and Kageyama was still awkward. It seemed like they hadn’t changed much.

Well, maybe Hinata’s gotten a little taller.

He turned around to check on the others. To his demise, he found that Tsukishima had given up and left the twins and the new boy alone. The new boy’s hair’s all over his face, Masaki was wrapping a large blue tarp around him, and Tsukishima looked like he had exhausted himself by doing nothing.

 _Tsukki, do something!_ He yelled telepathically.

 _I did my best_. Tsukishima stared back. _You’re on your own._

“Let’s cook it.” Masaki pulled out a large fry pan.

“Ah, don’t cook it, Masaki!” Hinata jumped over. “Don’t cook our kohai!”

“… Can someone untie me?” The blue bundle said.

Yamaguchi did a head count. They’re missing Naruse and one more person. Naruse had always been one of the earliest to show up to practice, and if he’s missing at this point, then it might be safe to assume that he’s not coming.

“Um… is this the volleyball team?” A brown-haired boy stepped into the gym. “My name is Miyano… Am I late?”

“No,” Yamaguchi sighed. “We better start.”

-

_Ah, here we go!_

The eight boys sat around in a circle with all eyes on Yamaguchi. He felt all the blood draining from his face; he hadn’t had to talk in front of people since that group project, but now that he’s the Captain, he _had_ to.

 _Potatoes._ Yamaguchi gulped. _They’re all potatoes._

“So… welcome… to our first practice. I’m Yamaguchi, the Captain, sort of. If you have any question, feel free to ask me, or anyone.”

“Yay, Yamaguchi!” Hinata cheered.

Yamaguchi blinked nervously. “Since we have new teammates, let’s… introduce ourselves…”

“I’ll start!” Hinata beamed. “I’m Hinata Shouyou. Third-year. I play the middle-blocker and my goal is to be the next Little Giant. Next!”

“Ah! Kageyama Tobio! Third-year! Setter!”

“Hayakawa Naoki. Second-year. Wing-spiker. I go by Naoki.” Said the twin with short black hair.

“Hayakawa Masaki. Second-year. Libero. I’m the cool one.” Said the twin with a coil of rope around his arm. “Next, Taka-chan!”

“Haha,” The brown-haired boy smiled. “I’m Miyano Takayuki. A second-year, I played a few different positions in middle school, but this is the first time I’m playing in high school. Nice to meet you.”

“Taka-chan you talked too much!”

“Um,” The beige-haired boy mumbled. “I’m Hamada Shota, first year… I’ve never played volleyball before…”

“Tsukishima Kei, Third-year.” Tsukishima said. “Middle-blocker.”

It was Yamaguchi’s turn. Unfortunately, he had missed everyone’s self-introduction due to his nerves. But he clenched his fists and looked up.

“I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi…. I play the middle-blocker…” Yamaguchi took a deep breath as he reviewed what he had to say.

“Yay, Captain!” Masaki applauded.

“I think… I have three announcements to make...”

“Oh!” Hinata grinned. “Which three, Yamaguchi?”

“Well… First. We have morning practice now.” Yamaguchi said. “Our regular practices are everyday after school. Except, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, we have morning practices instead, because one of our teammates have other commitments.”

“That’s me.” Kageyama did a sitting-bow. “Sorry for the inconvenience.”

“Ah, boo, Kageyama.” Hinata taunted.

“Shut up, you…”

“Um, second!” Yamaguchi held his ground. “Due to some involuntary circumstances, some of our teammates are failing classes. So, from now on, we’ll be hosting an English study session every week… so that we can… get better…”

“Gah.” Hinata yelped.

“Ah, if it’s English studies,” Miyano raised his hand. “I believe I can be of some use.”

“Really? That’s big help!” Yamaguchi felt a big sense of relief. “Thanks, Miyano-kun!”

“No problem!”

“Thirdly, I want to ask everyone, if you’re interested in participating in the Club Days Festival tomorrow.” Yamaguchi said. “You see, we only have ten people on the team – ah, Yachi, our team manager, is not here right now, and our other teammate is absent today – but we have ten people right now. We’re hoping to get a few more guys to join our team. So, if we have a booth at the festival, maybe we can get more members…”

“Well, Captain,” Tsukishima said. “Do you want to do it?”

“Yeah, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi smiled. “It’ll be fun!”

“If the Captain wants to do the festival, then I guess we have no choice, right?” Hinata grinned.

“Mm.” Everyone nodded.

“Um… then… it’s decided. We’re doing the festival!” Yamaguchi clenched his fist in excitement. “This concludes my announcements!”

Yamaguchi looked around and saw his team smiling proudly at him.

 _Mmm?_ He suddenly realized something. _Did I just give my first speech as a Captain?_

Hinata patted him on the back. “You’re too stiff, Yamaguchi! It’s not like we bite or anything.”

“That was good, Yamaguchi.” Kageyama added.

Yamaguchi felt his face flushed with heat.

He could suddenly see clearly; yes, Hinata had grown taller, but he’d also gotten even better at cheering people up. Kageyama had always been awkward, but as a third-year, he figured out how to blend naturally into the team. And the new members – the sleepy first-year earlier must be Hamada, and the second-year who’s friends with Masaki, his name was Miyano…

He was the one wrote the long club application that said…

“I want to change something.”

In the end, nothing really changed. Yamaguchi thought. Even when he was nervous, stuttering when giving speeches, when he couldn’t lead the meeting by himself, he’s always supported by his team.

“Um… to be honest,” Hamada mumbled. “I don’t really want to do the festival, it looks like a lot of work…”

Hinata and Masaki exchanged looks.

“Masaki, cook him.”

“Yes, sir!”

Yamaguchi watched as the three ran off. On the other side of the gym, Kageyama called them idiots and yelled at them to help set up the court. And right beside him, Tsukishima gave him a soft pat on the back.

“Good job.” He said.

Yachi’s words came to mind.

“Maybe it’s because you’re not honest with your feelings.”

 _Yachi,_ He thought. _If I be honest with my feelings, my heart’s going to explode._

\---

In the small storage shack behind the gym, Yamaguchi was trying his best to reach the box of decorations on the top of the shelf. His fingertips were just short of it - he gave a jump and arched his arm to grab it, but all he swept up was a layer of dust.

Tanaka-san probably threw it up here. He thought.

“Hey, Hinata, could you help me reach…”

He looked down and saw Hinata struggling to reach a basket two shelves down.

“Hmm? Yamaguchi. Did you say something?”

“Nope, nothing.” Yamaguchi said, walked over and handed Hinata the basket.

“Um,”

Hinata messy hair gave a little bounce as he looked up. “What’s up?”

“Thanks, for earlier.” Yamaguchi scratched his head. “I couldn’t give a proper speech. You helped me out.”

“Ah, that was nothing.” Hinata waved it off. “I told you that you were too stiff. See, you didn’t even have to lead the meeting or anything. Just let them play volleyball and they’ll cooperate.”

Yamaguchi smiled with a strain. “Hinata, I don’t think that’s how a team works.”

“Sure, it is. There’s another box on the top shelf, could you give me a lift?”

Yamaguchi hoisted Hinata up and they grabbed the box. Each holding a basket/box, the two left the storage shack and headed for the school courtyard.

“Have you booked your Career Counselling thing?” Hinata asked. “Mine’s on Tuesday.”

They walked past a group of girls from the Archery club. Each of them was holding large quiver cylinders or bundles of posters to post around school. Yamaguchi fell silent.

“I haven’t booked yet.” He said. “Have you decided what you want to after high school?”

“Well, yeah. Volleyball.”

“Going pro?”

“Yeah.” Hinata said. “The counsellors want us to talk about our future with our friends. There, I talked about it.”

Hinata made no eye contact with Yamaguchi.

“You seem anxious, Hinata.”

At lunch, the entire school was booming with energy and excitement for Club Days. The Student Council had for the first time invited neighborhood volunteers to help with catering, so instead of worrying about attracting guests with food, each club was focused on appealing themselves. The volleyball team, too, was focused on getting new members.

But Yamaguchi couldn’t afford to focus on one thing; he was spreading thin.

“Pro offers for high school players come in September. It’s April already.” Hinata whined. “To be honest, I don’t know if I’ll make it.”

“That’s not like you, Hinata.” Yamaguchi frowned. “What’s the matter?”

As they walked past the row of cherry blossom trees, Yamaguchi saw the Fashion Design Club. The girls were adorned with orange and black dress while the guys dressed up in uniquely designed suits. Around them, a group of tailors and seamstresses pinned them with safety pins and flowers.

“We’re hosting a catwalk at the Stadium on Day 1!” One of them handed a flier to Yamaguchi. “Come see us!”

Sidestepping around the crowd, Yamaguchi and Hinata squeezed past the students in the school courtyard and reached their table.

“Yamaguchi,”

Hinata set down his basket of stuff onto their table. He had his eyes set on the corridors ahead, and his hand gripping tightly on a volleyball in the basket. Yamaguchi followed Hinata’s line of sight and found Tsukishima and Kageyama by the pillars, talking about things they were too far away to hear.

Hinata spun the volleyball in his hand. “Kageyama is already a step ahead. I don’t want to lose to him.”

After their loss against Aoba Jousai last year, a recruiter from the Japanese Volleyball Association came up to the team and, while they were all confused, tired, and defeated, offered a position on the Under-19 Volleyball Camp to Kageyama.

Kageyama accepted without a thought, and Hinata’s not the same since then.

Deep down, Yamaguchi believes in Kageyama. His game sense and sheer tenacity got him as far as the U-19, and they’ll take him even further. Hinata, too, will get there, because he hates losing and loves volleyball more than anyone Yamaguchi knows.

In a distance, Tsukishima looked up. Their eyes met, and Yamaguchi thought about a large, European university in Munich, Germany – the place where he’ll lose his friend to.

 _How about you, Tsukki?_ He asked. _How far will you go?_

\---

“Alright, team. Here’s the plan.” Masaki laid down a hand-drawn map of Karasuno High School, detailed from the water tower on top of the roof, to the eraser someone dropped in the first-floor corridors. “Interhigh qualifiers start in two weeks, and we’re gonna catch Naruse between now and the end of Club Days. Any questions?”

At a corner in the school, Hamada, Masaki, Naoki and Miyano huddled suspiciously around Masaki’s bag of gadgets. The students around were wondering what the hell they were doing, not prepping for Club Days. Some even thought about reporting them to the teacher.

Hamada didn’t know how he got himself into this.

“Hamada, take this.” Masaki pushed a pair of binoculars into his hands and proceeded to hand out goods to the others. “Taka-chan’s got the ropes and the tarp. Naoki’s got the map and the food. And I got the net. Everyone, exchange contact information.”

“You’re too hardcore about this.” Naoki said while he took out his phone.

“There, Hamada,” Masaki points to a classroom on the second floor across the courtyard. “You see that short emo kid? That’s Naruse.”

“Who’s Naruse?”

“Naruse Yuzuru, a second-year,” Naoki said. “Our absent setter.”

Hamada looked into the binoculars. In the classroom on the second floor, crowds of second-year senpais gathered to draw posters and sew banners. Isolated in a seat by the window, a small boy sat curled up in his desk. He leaned his chin against his arm and stared out the window with his long black fringe covering parts of his eyes.

“He is emo.” Hamada frowned.

“Our target, Naruse Yuzuru.” Masaki announced. “Emo, uncooperative, the cry-baby who ditched every practice at the end of last year. He’s our teammate.”

“We’re getting him back.” Naoki affirmed. He looked at the bag in his hand. “So, what’s with the food?”

Miyano sniffed. “This smell… salted squid?”

“Right, salted squid and natto, his favourite foods.” Masaki nodded. “The pungent smell of natto plus the ultimate saltiness of the marinated salted squid. They create a pervasive, salty desert hell in the mouth when ingested together. I have no idea how Naruse eats these.”

“Good taste.” Miyano smiled. “So, we’re baiting Naruse with this?”

“Yes. Naoki’s going to walk by Naruse’s classroom and waft the smell at him. Naruse’s going to follow the smell down to the first floor. We’ve set up a cage there with natto and squid, which will lure him in and ultimately catch him.”

 _If Masaki had put an ounce of his scheming into his studies,_ Naoki thought. _He’d be as smart as Tsukishima-senpai._

“What can we do for you, Masaki?”

“Taka-chan and Hamada stay here for now.” Masaki said. “We need you to locate Naruse with the binos and update us on where he is. On my signal, all of us gather on the first floor and ambush him.”

“You got it, chief.” Miyano gave him a thumbs-up.

“Ready?” Masaki grabbed everyone’s hand and placed them in the middle. “Break!”

Hamada watched his twin senpais walked across the courtyard towards the second floor. During lunch that day, it was as if the entire school was bustling with energy. Cherry blossom petals drifted through the wind as students prepared for the school’s festival. Hamada didn’t understand why everyone was so excited.

“Shota-kun, is it?” Miyano asked.

“It’s Hamada.”

“Bare with us, will you?” Miyano smiled. “Naruse’s an important friend of ours.”

Hamada sighed. “But why in the world are we worrying about a player who’s slacking off? We have our own stuff to worry about, with all the Club Days and whatnot.”

“Ah… that,” Miyano turned his sight towards the boy in the classroom, across the courtyard. “You see, Naruse’s having it tough too.”

“How’d you know?”

“There’s been some gossips.” Miyano said. “Nasty ones. Though I’m sure they’re all fake.”

“Huh.” Hamada pressed his eyes to the binoculars. “Which ones?”

“Get your own intel, kid.”

 _This is so boring._ Hamada thought as he watched Masaki and Naoki sneak towards the classroom. _Why am I here?_

“I don’t get it.” He said. “Miyano-san, it’s not like you’ve been in this team since first-year. Why do you care? Why are you even joining the team when you’re already in second-year? Isn’t it too late to make a difference anyway?”

“Too, late?”

He looked up and saw a bone-chilling smile.

“Shota-kun,” Miyano said. “If you keep talking, I’ll rip your mouth off.”

Hamada suddenly realized that there’s no normal person on this team.

“Oh, it looks like they’re moving now, Shota-kun.” Miyano dragged him by the collar. “Let’s go.”

With his jaw dropped, eyes dead and hands frozen to a pair of binoculars, Hamada Shota felt a burning sensation on his butt cheeks as he got dragged across the courtyard.

-

“Ishida’s f*cking cage broke!” Masaki yelled angrily. “Naru’s getting away!”

With a box of natto and two sticks of salted squid in his hands, Naruse dashed through crowds of students in the first-floor hallway to get away from his idiot teammates.

“Taka, left!”

Naruse dodged to the right and avoided a tackle from Miyano.

“Naoki!”

In five meter’s distance, Naruse saw Naoki’s shoes approaching from the corner of the hallway. He jumped to evade a sliding attack.

“How the hell is he so fast?” Masaki howled after him. “Get out of the way, Hamada!”

Turning around the corner, Naruse narrowly missed an olive-haired boy coming his way.

“Naruse? Naruse!”

He registered it as Yamaguchi-senpai’s voice. Naruse hadn’t seen Yamaguchi for a few weeks, so he figured that Yamaguchi should be the captain of the team by now.

 _I shouldn’t cause him trouble…_ He thought lazily as he ran.

“Naruse! Come back!” Yamaguchi yelled behind him.

For a brief moment, a really, really brief moment, Naruse thought he’d just stop running and surrender himself to his teammates. It seemed like they’re trying hard to get him back on the team, but he had no idea why.

Someone like him…

In his moment of weakness, Naruse bumped into a tall student. From his rather low line of sight, he saw the boy holding a carton of milk in his hand. He looked up.

“Na, Naruse!”

Naruse saw Kageyama, the senpai who taught him how to be a proper setter.

_Ah…_

“Come back to practice!” Kageyama glared at him with stern wide eyes and a look of concern.

For a really, really brief moment, Naruse thought he might as well just go back to practice.

“I can’t stop, fuck!”

A force of impact equivalent to Masaki, Naoki, Miyano and Hamada running at top speed slammed into Naruse and Kageyama. All six of them fell to the ground.

Naruse saw his chance and took off.

“Gah! Naru! You ain’t getting away!”

“You stupid idiots!” Kageyama yelled.

The boys ran off. Kageyama coughed up the milk stuck in his trachea and hoisted himself up. He was about to chase after the idiots when he saw an out-of-breath Naoki staring at him.

“Wait… Kageyama-senpai,” Naoki coughed too. “Can I ask you for a favour?”

“Oh, uh, sure.” Kageyama said. “What is it, Hayakawa?”

“Will you teach me… how to be a setter?” Naoki asked. “I want to help you and Naruse.”

\---

The day before Club Days was almost over. Despite it being afterschool, all the classrooms around him were brightly-lit, bustling with students doing their final preparation before the festival. Classmates ran between classrooms and club rooms to get their final decorations up. Yamaguchi, having a few things left to do, waved goodbye to them and made his way to the Teachers’ Office.

On the way, a gust of wind had taken cherry blossoms up into the air; they flew into the sunset sky.

Yamaguchi knocked on the door to the Teachers’ Office in hopes to borrow tablecloths for their booth tomorrow, but the it was chaotic in there too – teachers were finalizing the festival programs for tomorrow and Friday. Someone yelled about volunteers not being able to show up. Someone yelled about pipe bursts in the school’s newly built stadium. Seeing how he couldn’t get anyone’s attention, Yamaguchi turned to walk away.

“Ah, wait up, Yamaguchi!” Takeda-sensei’s voice caught him. “Sorry we can’t help you… we’re not taking student requests anymore.”

“Ah, sensei, it’s fine.”

“Just wanted to let you know that I’ve booked your Career Guidance Appointment on Monday.” Takeda-sensei added. “All the spots are filling up and I wanted to make sure you get one.”

“Thanks, sensei.” Yamaguchi said. “I’ll be going then. Excuse me.”

If Yamaguchi was honest with his feelings, he’d call himself clueless, a pushover, and a coward. When Hinata talked to him about post-secondary, it came to him that the only direction he’d ever known was Tsukki. He chose to come to Karasuno because Tsukki wanted to come, he chose to play volleyball because Tsukki wanted to play, and, for all these years, he studied hard so that he could stay in the same university-prep class as Tsukki.

Because, without Tsukki, he’d still be kicked around by others.

He didn’t know how he could cheer Hinata up when he himself was dependent on Tsukki.

And it’s not just Hinata, he now has a whole team to look after. The twins are fine, but he needed to make sure the new members feel welcome. And there’s Naruse too. Earlier, Yamaguchi saw Naruse. Naruse was running from his teammates like he was running from ghosts.

He made his way down to the second floor and poked his head into Naruse’s classroom.

“Is Naruse still here?” Yamaguchi asked.

A student stuck his head up from his projects. “Sorry, he just left, literally a second ago.”

“Which one is his desk?”

As per the student’s instructions, Yamaguchi made his way to a desk by the window. He took out a pre-written stickie and posted it on Naruse’s desk.

“Come to practice!” It said simply. Yamaguchi added that Masaki has salted squid for Naruse and signed his name.

 _This should be fine._ If Naruse wanted to talk, Yamaguchi would listen for however long it takes to solve the problem. But Naruse did not want to talk to him.

As he left the classroom, a wave of loneliness crashed down on him.

He wanted to see Yachi, he wanted to see his team, he wanted to see Tsukki so badly.

_If I was to be honest with my feelings…_

Suddenly, his phone buzzed twice. He picked it up.

“Yamaguchi! Hello!” Yachi’s words flashed onto the screen. “I’m coming back to Miyagi!”

Another message came; it was a photo of Yachi on the Shinkansen, smiling and pointing at Mt. Fuji.

Yamaguchi wiped his eyes.

“Oh, who’s that?” Masaki popped up from behind. “Ah, it’s Yachi-san!”

Ah! Yamaguchi looked back and found his team. No, somehow, they found him.

“Yachi?” Kageyama asked.

“Yachi? I want to see Yachi!” Hinata beamed. “Do a video call, Yamaguchi!”

Tsukishima sighed. “You know how much data costs?”

Yamaguchi dialed video call in an instant.

“Eh?” Yachi’s voice, along with a slightly confused turned big grin popped through his phone. “Ah! It’s everyone! Hi team!”

“Guess what, Yachi! We have new members!” Hinata pushed Miyano and Hamada to the front. “These two! Taka-chan and Hamada!”

“Oh Hello!” “Nice to meet you!” “Hi…”

“Where’s Naoki?”

“I’m here. Hi.”

“Hi Naoki! Where’s Naruse?”

Yamaguchi’s heart sank.

“Sorry, Yachi-san!” Masaki clapped his hands together in an apology. “He ran away. But we were this close to catching him. THIS CLOSE!”

“That’s okay, I’m sure he’ll come back during Club Days!” Yachi smiled. “Because! We met him at Club Days last year, right?”

 _Oh…_ Yamaguchi blinked. _That’s right…_

“By the way, I have big news!” Yachi beamed happily. “I booked the Stadium for us! Yamaguchi said you guys wanted to demonstrate game tactics to attract new members, so I thought we can play 3 vs 3 in front of a large audience!”

“WHOOAAAAA!!!” Hinata and Masaki broke into a loud cheer. “THANK YOU YACHI/YACHI-SAN!!!”

 _This is bad…_ Yamaguchi felt his sight turning blurry.

Yachi gasped. “Guys, turn around!”

All eight of them turned around; at the end of the hallway, Naruse stood there, wide-eyed and completely caught off guard.

“GET HIM!”

As the team ran off, Yamaguchi broke down in tears.

He’ll admit it; he’s clueless, a pushover, and a coward. But even so, somehow, his team was always there to save him. Tomorrow, he promises, he’ll become a better captain. He’ll lead practices better. He’ll listen to his teammates better. Because he owes them that much if not more.

“Thanks, Yachi.” Tsukishima took his phone and hung up.

“Sorry, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi wiped his eyes. “Yesterday, I wanted to hear about Germany and Munich, and the school you’re going to. I really do, I still do. But I got so lost that I couldn’t ask you…”

“Haha,” Tsukishima chuckled.

“And today was so chaotic… The team… Hinata… Naruse… I hope Hinata gets an offer… I hope Naruse comes back to the team… I…”

Tsukishima took off his jacket and draped it around Yamaguchi.

“I know.”

“No, Tsukki, listen.” Yamaguchi wailed. “If you want to go to Germany, you’re smart, you can do it. I will cheer for you. I really will.”

Tsukishima sighed. What he really wanted was for Yamaguchi to ask him to stay.

“I know.”

Around them, cherry blossom petals found their way into the second-floor corridors.

Tsukishima wrapped his jacket around his crush. He knew how he felt because, as the impending graduation drew near, he too, was at a loss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... how about it?  
> I hope they weren't too out-of-characters.  
> And ah... they do fill my heart with butterflies.
> 
> Anyway, I thought I'd leave a little something here, so here are the grades rankings at Karasuno this year, in the format of (ranking/number of students).
> 
> Third-years:  
> Tsukishima Kei (1/157)  
> Yamaguchi Tadashi (19/157)  
> Yachi Hitoka (23/157)  
> Kageyama Tobio (72/157)  
> Hinata Shouyou (102/157)
> 
> Second-years:  
> Miyano Takayuki (12/196)  
> Hayakawa Masaki (52/196)  
> Hayakawa Naoki (56/196)  
> Naruse Yuzuru (121/196)
> 
> First-year(s):  
> Hamada Shota (80/160)
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos, comments and bookmarks, they keep me going!  
> Next chapter, Tsukki's POV!


End file.
